little ships big men

[cappy]

##i had the great pleasure in my growing up years of living with my granny and the man i called grandad .....he was at the time a chief officer or as known to us on the site as the mate.....it was the 25th of this month in 1940 he was later presented to the then king for bravery at sea in regard to the loss of the ss leo of hull.....he was not my blood but a great mentor to me and close enough to have a strong bearing in my life ...the convoy was from the north and gathered strength as it plowed south....they were attacked by stukas incestanly as they got further south the ss leo was straddled and turned turtle ....men and boys in the water ...it was stated this happenened in a few minutes ......the master of the ss newminster in which my mentor sailed asked for volunteers to put the boat over and try to pick up the injured and the survivors ....my mentor immediately volunteered ..it was the sort of person he was.....also a steward and fireman or AB..he pushed the boy rating out of the boat for which he had jumped in ....the boat was now alone as the newminster plowed on....the german luftwaffe out in great strength constantly fired at them in the water and also at the ss leo of hull.....the boat was hit and as no bouyancy tanks on those small boats started to take in water as they rowed under fire towards the leo ....on arriving on the scene the leo stated to founder ..men jumped into the water some being hit by the gunfire and some seriously injured..the life jackets of those days were made of cork.....my mentor instucted his crew to cut a life belt of a dead seaman and cut cork to plug the holes in the rescue boat... all the time the convoy sailing past under intense fire from stukas bombing and firing at them..they pulled men from the water into this small boat under and the most frightening of circumstances...theywere many hours with the dead and dying in the boat..eventually i believe picked up by a HMS destroyerand landed in dover.....he recieved medals for bravery etc ..he was not a big man but had the heart of a lion in my eyes.....he died in the late sixties falling asleep on the settee with his old coal burning pipe..setting him alight i saw him the day before he died he was very bodily burnt..he said dont worry for me im outward bound for the last time with no worries.....that cut me deep ......he was capt ernest albert small ..a gentleman who put himself on the line for others.....much loved and admired ......and i was proud to call a true friend cappy

[Keith Tindell]

Same as my old fella happy, 20 years of age HMS suffolk, operation Duck, usual cock up of those days, he was a Royal Marine in Y turret, badly burned and blind, layer on a stretcher on the deck, ship swerving all ways, guns firing, Stukas diving etc, i always remember when he told me smiling around on the stretcher, he said that was fear, and went on for several hours, here is the story for anyone interested,kt


http://www.world-war.co.uk/duck.php3

[cappy]

tried to get on keith site not available ....cappy

[Keith Tindell]

Strange that, if you google Has Suffolk operation Duck, it comes up ok, dad was one of the lucky ones, many died. Little story attached, years later circa 1952, dad was being interviewed for a job with Surrey county council, and his war burns were obvious, and one of the guys on the board asked him where he got them, so dad told him. The guy then asked dad if he knew the name of the ships skipper, dad said he had only joined the ship two days prior to the operation, the guy said, *i was the skipper*, no need to say dad got the job, kt

[cappy]

that is true justice keith it hapens so often but is not always recognised by others ...cappy

[cappy]

#####your old mans efforts must must give you great pride keith...the battle honours of the suffolk must be second to none......respects to you and yours cappy

[cappy]

Strange that, if you google Has Suffolk operation Duck, it comes up ok, dad was one of the lucky ones, many died. Little story attached, years later circa 1952, dad was being interviewed for a job with Surrey county council, and his war burns were obvious, and one of the guys on the board asked him where he got them, so dad told him. The guy then asked dad if he knew the name of the ships skipper, dad said he had only joined the ship two days prior to the operation, the guy said, *i was the skipper*, no need to say dad got the job, kt

###similar story ernie often came across the engineer of the new minster after the war ..ernie was fire watching on the braemar leda and the venus norske mail boats .....the engineer said he had a job with the police but woudnt say what it was but said he had a uniform ...ernie out shopping with nanna one day spotted him with a lollipop stick seeing kids over the road ....surelya worthwhile job but a matter for humour when the met again..cheif engineer to lolipop man ..who knows what lies in store..they were friends till they died ..sometimes these things weld us together..cappy

[cappy]

nice to see you back on line lady ...no need to send i just googled HMS suffolk and got the whole battle history of her thanks ...cappy.....

[cappy]

Great thread cappy, big brave men indeed.

yes marion i think the ayes have it ....cappy

[Lewis McColl]

Thanks for posting Cappy brave men indeed.